


The Best Little Murder Puppy in the Universe

by isabeau25



Series: Paladins and their Pets [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 01:19:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15207674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabeau25/pseuds/isabeau25
Summary: Keith finds the puppy, but it doesn't take much convincing to get Hunk to keep him.





	The Best Little Murder Puppy in the Universe

**Author's Note:**

> It's sort of nebulous how this series fits into the overall timeline of the show. About 4/5 of this particular story was written before season 6 came out, and it doesn't really address anything from season 6.

The city was rubble. It had happened nearly two weeks ago, and well before the planet had sent out a desperate call for help, but Hunk couldn’t help the lingering guilt as they made their way through the crumbling city.

They had paired off to search the capital city for survivors or Galra fighters left behind after they drove off the main force. He and Keith were partnered up, and even though Hunk was ecstatic to have Keith taking a break from the Blades to work with them for a little while, he still would have rather been just about anywhere else.

“Did you hear that?” Keith froze.

Hunk almost ran into him and took the opportunity to huddle behind him. He was supposed to be covering Keith, since that was purpose of pairing up range and close quarters fighters, at least according to Lance, and he totally would, but that wasn’t going to stop him from ducking behind Keith until he knew what was going on.

Keith was not helpful to this end. He scrambled over the crumbling remains of a building wall, blade out. Hunk followed more cautiously, wondering if it would help at all to have yet another conversation about not rushing in with Keith.

Probably not. The only time that had worked was when Lance had done it, and that was after Keith rushing in had almost gotten them killed.

“It’s coming from under here,” Keith sheathed his knife and went down on his stomach, reaching under a large chunk of fallen wall.

“Maybe don’t stick your whole arm into a small dark hole with some unknown thing in it and an unstable wall above you,” Hunk shifted, tightening and loosening his grip on his bayard repeatedly.

Keith rolled his eyes and reached farther. It took a few minutes of feeling around before he gave a triumphant cry that just about scared Hunk to death.

“Got it,” Keith slowly drew his arm back and sat on his knees, cradling something to his chest.

“Got what?” Hunk leaned cautiously over him.

“I’m not sure,” Keith opened his hands slowly, revealing…

“It’s a puppy!” Hunk dismissed his bayard, reaching eagerly for the tiny shaking bundle of fur.

“Slow down, Hunk,” Keith leaned away from him, “it’s really tiny, and I think it might be hurt.”

“Oh no,” Hunk dropped down to his knees across from Keith, leaning over so he could see better, “maybe the cryopod can fix it?”

The puppy whined unhappily, snuffling at Keith’s fingers. It was nothing but a ball of grimy fur. It didn’t even look like its eyes were open yet, if that was even a thing with alien puppies. Hunk didn’t really know.

“Can I hold it?” Hunk whispered.

“Yeah,” Keith quirked a smile at him and slipped the little thing into his hands carefully.

“You are just the most precious, bestest, prettiest puppy in the whole universe,” Hunk carefully brought the puppy up to his cheek, nuzzling against it, “we’re going to fix you up and find you the best new home in the whole universe.”

Keith snickered, “is that what I sound like?”

“Yes, definitely,” Hunk held the puppy to his chest defensively, “only sillier.”

Keith laughed and stood up, “well, it is a puppy.”

“Maybe Grace will like it and want to be its mom,” Hunk stood carefully, trying not to jar the little puppy, but it squeaked in protest anyway, “sorry, sorry.”

“We probably need to keep the puppy quarantined from the other animals for a while just in case it has any diseases, although Coran may be able to tell with the med equipment we have on board,” Keith drew his knife and waved for Hunk to follow.

“I could probably build it a nice little puppy box or something in my room if we needed to…” Hunk frowned suddenly and stopped walking, “wait, are you implying you’re going to adopt another animal?”

They didn’t mind taking care of Blaze when Keith was on missions with the Blades, but everything was still so uncertain with where he was going to go and what he was going to do, that it seemed like a bad idea for him to get another pet.

“No,” Keith grinned back at him, “I’m implying you are.”

“Me,” Hunk sputtered, even has he cradled the little puppy closer.

“Why not?” Keith turned to help Hunk over a pile of rubble so he wouldn’t have to shift the puppy around too much, “I have Blaze, Shiro has Grace, Pidge has an army of caterpillars, and Lance has a whole tank of those weird glow-in-the-dark fish and a tortoise.”

“Yeah, but…” Hunk trailed off as the puppy gave an unhappy little whine.

“It’s not like anyone here is going to have the means to take care of an injured newborn puppy when they’re struggling just to take care of the people,” Keith pointed out.

“I guess that makes sense,” Hunk admitted.

“Plus, as soon as Shiro sees it, he’s going to melt and insist we keep it,” Keith smirked, “it will make him happy.”

Hunk cuddled the little puppy to him carefully, nodding along. Who was he to deny Shiro something that would make him happy, even if it meant some extra work for him.

* * *

“Hmmm,” Coran leaned in to peer closer at the tiny bundle against Hunk’s chest.

“Is he okay?” Hunk asked anxiously.

They had washed the little puppy off as best they could and discovered that he was actually a lovely golden color. He hadn’t liked being set on the exam table at all, and he had whined pitifully through all the scans Coran had done.

Hunk had scooped him up in the warmest, softest towel he could find as soon as Coran was done and was cuddling the puppy close to try to keep him warm.

“Well, he’s got multiple fractures in the pelvises and hind legs,” Coran reached out to rub between the puppy’s ears with one finger.

“But we can fix it, right?” Hunk carefully adjusted the towel the puppy was wrapped in.

“Even if he can’t go in the pod, puppy bones usually heal pretty well,” Keith patted his shoulder reassuringly, “we just need to keep him some place quiet and still.”

“Not to worry, number 2,” Coran straightened cheerfully, “I think I can rig something to put this little nipper in and get him in the pod.”

“You hear that, buddy,” Hunk cooed to the puppy, “we’re going to make you all better.”

“I must admit though, I’m puzzled about what exactly our new little friend is,” Coran turned away from them and began pulling items out of a wall cupboard.

“He’s the cutest, bestest, little baby ever,” Hunk rested his cheek against the puppy.

Keith snorted softly, “we’ll try to figure out what he is. Will the pods be able to tell if he’s carrying any contagious sicknesses or do we need to quarantine him?”

“We’ll be able to tell,” Coran held a box lined with what seemed to be the same material as the healing suits, “tuck him in here, nice and cozy.”

“Will he be warm enough?” Hunk eyed the box suspiciously, “it’s important to keep puppies warm, isn’t it Keith?”

“Yes,” Keith managed to keep his amusement in check, “but he’s going in a cryo-replenisher. He’s going to be frozen.”

“Is that okay?” Hunk’s voice went high with worry.

“It hasn’t hurt us yet,” Keith shrugged.

“I assure you, he’ll be quite safe,” Coran gave him an encouraging smile, “we’ll have a hot pad waiting for him when he comes out.”

“Okay,” Hunk carefully set the puppy in the box, wincing when he started to squeak and cry, snuffling blindly for the warm arms that had been holding him.

Coran waited patiently while Hunk meticulously tucked the little puppy in, petting his head one last time before taking a deep breath and stepping back.

Coran set the box carefully in the bottom of one of the healing pods and activated it, pausing to watching the readings until they showed everything was stable.

“There we go,” Coran turned back to them cheerfully, “all safe and sound. Just give the scans a vagra or two to run, and we’ll be able to tell if it’s safe to put him with your other little critters.”

“Come on,” Keith clapped Hunk on the shoulder, “we should probably tell Shiro we got another dog.” 

“And the princess,” Coran reminded them.

“Can’t we just surprise her?” Hunk looked longingly at the little box, “you had Blaze for months before she noticed.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s going to notice you carrying around a squeaking bundle and baby talking it,” Keith snorted, tugging Hunk out of the room, “thanks, Coran.”

“Thanks Coran,” Hunk gave a wave as Keith pulled him along.

Coran watched them go with a fond smile. These humans and their obsession with all things small and soft; they were really quite endearing.

* * *

“There you go little guy,” Hunk held the puppy the way Keith had shown him, using a tiny bottle that Coran had found somewhere to feed him, “eat it all down and grow nice and big.”

They had guessed on the baby formula based on the scans that Coran had done while the puppy was in the pod and the puppy seemed to be doing well and gaining weight steadily.

“Any luck figuring out what he is?” Lance sprawled out on the couch next to Hunk, leaning on his shoulder.

“No yet,” Hunk pulled the empty bottle away and used a damp cloth to clean up the puppy’s face, “it doesn’t look like he’s a native to the planet, or even a commonly imported pet.”

“Well, whatever he is, it’s nice to have another dog on board,” Shiro smiled at Hunk from the other couch, his hand never pausing in stroking the head of his own dog in his lap.

Grace was nearly full grown now, but she still had all the energy of a puppy. She had been curious about the new little puppy, and done her best to help groom him, which had resulted in a damp but seemingly happy little squeaking ball of fur.

“Have you figured out a name yet?” Lance asked.

“Not yet,” Hunk settled the puppy in the crook of his arm, tucking his blanket around him.

“Colossus?” Lance suggested, “make the little guy feel big?”

Shiro laughed and Grace picked her head up, tail wagging.

“See, Grace likes it,” Lance grinned.

“I’m not naming my puppy after a squid,” Hunk huffed.

“But colossal squid are awesome,” Lance protested.

“He is wiggly like a squid,” Shiro ran his hand down Grace’s back, smile wide.

The puppy yawned hugely, showing off tiny little teeth beginning to poke through his gums. Then he blinked up at Hunk.

“Don’t worry little guy,” Hunk cooed, “I’m not going to name you after…”

He trailed off, realizing that something was different.

“His eyes are open!” Hunk said excitedly, “Lance, Shiro, come look! They’re open!”

“What color are they?” Lance leaned across Hunk’s lap to get a better look.

“Do you think they’ll change colors?” Shiro came over to them, Grace on his heels, “Grace’s eyes have gotten more green as she’s gotten older.”

“They’re gold,” Hunk smiled happily, “maybe she’s a golden retriever.”

“Hunk,” Lance groaned, flopping over his lap.

Shiro laughed and rubbed a careful finger between the puppy’s ears, “well, finding her was a golden opportunity.”

“You’re both terrible,” Lance’s voice came out muffled against Hunk’s leg.

The puppy yipped as if in agreement, and Grace wuffled back in return, running her tongue gently along the puppy’s back.

“The dogs agree with me. I win,” Lance declared.

“Buddy, the last time a dog agreed with you, you thought it was Slav,” Shiro patted the back of his head.

Grace decided that if Shiro was comforting Lance, she needed to too, and proceeded to lick him until he was helpless with laughter.

The puppy watched the whole thing curiously, then yipped again as if in approval. Hunk agreed entirely.

* * *

Lance was asleep. Had been asleep. Was definitely supposed to be asleep. So whoever was knocking frantically at his door had better have a very good reason.

He stumbled to the door and opened it to find Keith standing there, barefoot and with a tablet clutched to his chest.

“Lance, I messed up,” Keith said without preamble.

“Is anyone about to die?” Lance rubbed his hand down his face sleepily, stepping back to let him in.

“Well, no, not yet but…” Keith fidgeted nervously.

“Why are you even awake?” Lance yawned, “Shiro wants to run partner combat drills tomorrow morning before breakfast.”

“I was reading,” Keith huffed defensively.

Blaze’s head popped out of the hood of Keith’s sweatshirt curiously.

“You woke me up to tell me you stayed up too late reading?” Lance flopped back on his bed.

“What?” Keith gave him a confused look, “no!”

“You finally realized you need a haircut?” Lance gave Blaze an unimpressed look when he climbed onto Keith’s shoulder to chitter at him as if in defense of Keith.

“Lance, this is serious,” Keith said in frustration, “I really messed up.”

“Well, what did you do?” Lance asked, “it’s like three in the morning. How bad…?”

“Hunk’s dog is a yupper,” Keith cut him off in a rush.

“Oh,” Lance pushed himself upright, “I’m glad you finally figured it out. Now you guys can look stuff up on how to take care of him instead of guessing.”

“A yupper, Lance,” Keith waved the tablet at him, “they’re war dogs. Galra officers keep them because they’re so vicious.”

“Ah,” Lance snatched the tablet from Keith’s hand, flipping it on to look at what he had found.

“Hunk is in love with that puppy, and now I have to tell him it’s not safe for him to keep him,” Keith slumped on the bed next to Lance, reaching up absently to scratch Blaze’s head.

“Why?” Lance gave him a confused look.

“Didn’t you just hear me? He’s dangerous,” Keith glared.

“He’s a dog,” Lance rolled his eyes, “Laika was with me almost the entire time we were on Beta Traz, and she never hurt me. She attacked the robots instead. Also, that means he’ll be big enough for Hunk to snuggle with.”

“I… guess?” Keith frowned, “but that could also mean they’ve been bred for aggression.”

“So we’ll have to look up how to train him,” Lance yawned again and offered the tablet back to Keith, “but not tonight. Go to bed, or at least let me go to bed.”

“You really think it will be okay?” Keith hesitated.

“Yes,” Lance clapped his shoulder hard enough to make him lean forward, and Blaze scampered down into Keith’s lap with a scolding chitter, “now take your grumpy space ferret and go to bed.”

“He’s not grumpy,” Keith protested as he stood, scooping Blaze back onto his shoulder, “thanks though.”

“Welcome,” Lance tumbled back onto his pillow, “I’ll help you start looking stuff up. Tomorrow. Now go to sleep.”

“Good night,” Keith turned off the lights on his way out.

He paused in the hall, looking back down at his tablet. Three yupper puppies tripped happily over each other at the top of the article he had found. He guessed if they had galra allies and a part galra teammate, they could have a galra dog.

* * *

“Who’s the best little murder puppy in the whole wide universe,” Hunk rubbed the yupper puppy’s tummy, grinning widely.

The puppy wiggled on his back, tail thumping the ground and panting with excitement.

“Is this a human thing?” Allura watched Hunk’s ‘training’ session with his puppy in mild fascination.

“Being enamored with fluffy cute things?” Pidge didn’t look up from her laptop.

“The sudden drop in IQ around dangerous animals,” Allura clarified dryly.

“Don’t knock it,” Pidge snorted, “I’ve seen you with your mice.”

“My mice are hardly dangerous,” Allura said haughtily.

“Didn’t they kill a Galra soldier?” Shiro looked up from Grace, who was sitting obediently beside him on the floor, setting a good example for her new little friend.

“Those were extraneous circumstances,” Allura huffed, “and you should all be grateful they did.”

“Of course,” Pidge smirked, “just like we would be grateful if Hunk’s new murder puppy did the same thing.”

“He’s not going near any bad galra ever,” Hunk stopped scratching the puppy’s tummy, and he immediately rolled to his feet, looking up at Hunk eagerly, tail wagging so fast his whole body shook with it, “he’s the sweetest little Cupcake in the whole universe, and he’s never ever fighting.”

“I can’t believe you’re naming him that,” Pidge rolled her eyes, then turned her laptop screen to face Hunk, “he’s going to grow up to be bigger than you. Look at all the cool armor designs they have for yuppers. We could totally modify some of these to make armor for him. He could be our mascot.”

“No armor,” Hunk put his fists on his hips, “he’s a refugee we rescued. He’s not fighting.”

“But look how cool,” Pidge wiggled her laptop, “think about what we could do with the Altean tech at our disposal. It would keep him safe.”

“That’s not…” Hunk trailed off, looking closer at the screen, “what kind of alloy is that?”

Shiro grinned, tempting the puppy over to him with the offer of a treat. He rewarded him for answering to his name, then let he and Grace sniff at each other. So far the two dogs seemed to be getting along well despite being completely different species. Grace sometimes seemed confused by the noises Cupcake made, which sounded completely different from her own barks and woofs, but that didn’t seem to put her off.

“Grace, lay down,” Shiro tapped the ground beside him.

Grace immediately laid on the ground beside Shiro, and he rewarded her with a treat and an ear scratch. Cupcake came to sniff at his hand, and when he found no treat there, began licking at it and Grace’s face. Grace took this in stride, licking back before Shiro tempted the puppy away from her with a treat.

“Cupcake, sit,” this wasn’t the first time they had worked on this, and after taking a moment to confirm he couldn’t lick the treat out of Shiro’s hand, he put his bottom on the ground.

“Good boy,” Shiro gave him the treat and scratched his ears.

They worked on sit and stay for a few more minutes, Shiro occasionally stopping to praise Grace for staying where she was. Her tail wagged lazily, always happy to please her person.

After a few rounds of successful sits, Shiro held his hands behind his back to show that they were done.

“Cupcake, go get Hunk,” Shiro encouraged.

The puppy yipped excitedly, his bark no where near the full ‘yup’ that they had heard in Beta Traz yet, and went racing to his owner, jumping excitedly on Hunk’s leg.

“There’s my best Cupcake ever,” Hunk immediately turned away from Pidge, scratching his ears and chin.

“Try getting him to sit,” Shiro instructed.

“Cupcake, sit,” Hunk said with no less enthusiasm then the rest of his baby talk.

Cupcake sat and Hunk praised him lavishly, scratching his ears and rubbing his belly when he flopped over.

“He really is cute,” Allura smiled at the puppy, “I suppose there’s some benefit to your propensity to seek out all things fluffy.”

“Cupcake, kisses for Allura,” Hunk pointed towards her.

‘Kisses’ was one of Grace’s favorite tricks, but Cupcake was still a little hit and miss with it. He got it this time though, clambering up into Allura’s lap to cover her face in sloppy puppy kisses.

Pidge shifted her laptop out of range of the furiously wagging tail and Allura’s flailing.

“Good boy,” Pidge absently reached out to scratch the puppy’s rump.

Allura tried to tell Cupcake to sit between fits of laughter, but she couldn’t get the words out.

“Never underestimate the cute,” Pidge told her, content to leave her to her fate.

* * *

“Give it back!” Pidge grunted and gave another futile tug on the heavy wire cable, “I need that!”

Cupcake tugged back, clearly enjoying the game and unaware of Pidge’s mounting frustration.

“Cupcake drop it,” Hunk commanded.

The yupper immediately let go and raced across the room to Hunk, tail wagging madly and clearly happy to obey his person. Hunk was holding a somewhat less then whole pillow and had been ready to scold, but one look at the happy doggy face looking up at him and he melted.

“That’s right,” Hunk dropped the pillow to scratch both ears vigorously, “you’re a good boy! The best boy in the whole galaxy!”

“Hunk!” Pidge protested, “he’s just going to keep chewing on things if you keep praising him all the time!”

“Yup!” Cupcake agreed, dancing happily around Hunk and trying to snatch the mauled pillow from his hands.

“I know,” Hunk held it up out of his reach, a feat that was getting harder and harder as the yupper kept getting bigger and bigger, “but look at his sweet little face. I can’t say no to that. Maybe that’s just how yuppers are.”

“Hunk, he really can’t keep chewing on everything,” Shiro pointed out; he has already lost two pairs of boots and a blanket to the excitable puppy, “it’s not safe for him or us. He’s getting big, and he could hurt someone.”

“But… he’s so happy when he’s chewing on things,” Hunk gave the yupper a sad look, “it has to be something yuppers just do.”

“If we can’t get stop, we might have to…” Shiro frowned slightly.

“I don’t want to have to get rid of him,” Hunk dropped down and hugged the yupper to himself protectively.

Cupcake sat, tail thumping loudly on the floor and tongue lolling out. He cocked his head at Shiro, ears perking, as if he was waiting for him to answer.

“No one is saying you have to,” Shiro assured him, hands coming up placatingly, “we just need to figure out how to get him to stop.”

“You all are ridiculous,” Lance whistled and waved a thick rope tug toy in the air one handed, the other hand occupied with the tablet he was reading.

Cupcake raced over to him, latching onto the toy. Lance made no effort to hold onto it, letting him have it as soon as he tugged. Cupcake happily settled on the floor beside Lance, rope trapped between his front paws and began to gnaw away at it happily.

“He’s teething,” Lance stretched a bit and resettled into his sprawl on the couch, eyes still on his tablet, “have none of you had a puppy before?”

“I have a dog at home,” Pidge said indignantly, then reconsidered, “but I guess we got Bae-Bae a little past the tiny puppy stage.”

“Grace was kind of mouthy for a little while, but I guess it didn’t seem as bad because she’s smaller,” Shiro admitted.

“Then I can keep him!” Hunk cheered.

Cupcake shot up at Hunk’s voice, grabbing his rope and racing over to his person.

“No one said you had to give him up,” Shiro repeated patiently, wondering if Hunk was being dramatic on purpose.

“You should be able to teach him not to bite the same way you’ve been teaching him not to jump up on people,” Lance finally glance up from his tablet, “just make sure he has plenty of chew toys so he doesn’t feel like he needs to chew on everything else.”

“Right, I can do that,” Hunk jumped to his feet, “come on Cupcake, let’s go build you the best chew toys ever.”

Cupcake jumped to his feet and followed Hunk out of the room, tail wagging and rope hanging from his mouth.

“Is he always that dramatic when pets are involved?” Shiro asked after he had gone.

“Yes,” Pidge and Lance answered together.

From down the hall they heard a loud ‘yup’ of agreement.

* * *

Cupcake ran across the floor of the med bay, the top of his head pressed to the ground as if he were some kind of strange canine bulldozer. All of Hunk’s research indicated that this was normal behavior, and it was kind of funny once Hunk had convinced himself it really wasn’t hurting him or a sign that something was wrong.

Not funny enough to shake him out of his bad mood, unfortunately.

“Come here Cupcake,” Hunk patted his knee.

Cupecake lifted his head and trotted over to Hunk, floppin down beside him with his head on Hunk’s leg and tongue lolling out. Hunk smiled wanly and scratched the top of the yupper’s head, where he could just barely feel two small bumps starting to grow. Cupcake let out a stream of long, soft yups to show his appreciation.

“I mean, I get that missions are important, and Galra are all intense and everything is “or death” with them,” Hunk continued his rant, “and I know our med equipment is better, but this just feels wrong.”

Hunk liked to pretend that Cupcake was agreeing with him instead of just happily giving the yupper equivalent of a purr.

“It’s just…” Hunk looked up over his shoulder at Keith, peacefully suspended in a pod, “if he hadn’t gotten himself back to them, I am 100% sure that they would have left him, and when they contacted us, it was like…”

His comm beeped, and Cupcake sprung to his feet, ears perking forward.

“Hunk, is everything alright?” Shiro asked.

Cupcake gave a happy ‘yup’ in response to Shiro’s voice.

“Hello, Cupcake,” Shiro laughed and got another bark in return.

“Yes,” Hunk repeated his yupper almost automatically, then frowned, “no, kind of.”

“What happened?” Shiro asked more seriously.

They were all split up, Lance and Pidge on a rebel base helping assess inventory and tech needs, Shiro and Allura assisting with a small Galra force three planets over, and Hunk left behind to help with Castle repairs. Hunk had been very vocal about not liking being split up this way, but Shiro had insisted it made the most sense.

“The Blades contacted us to come get Keith,” Hunk felt the need to pound on something increase; it didn’t matter if it was a wrench or a rolling pin, just something, “he got pretty busted up on his last mission, and they wanted him in our pods so they could get him back in the field as quickly as possible.”

Cupcake pushed his head between his clenched hands, rubbing the top of his head against his palm so hard it almost knocked Hunk over.

“Gentle, baby cakes,” Hunk admonished absently, waiting for the yupper to ease up before scraping the top of his head,

The line was quiet for a moment, then Hunk heard Shiro exhale, “how bad?”

“He broke some bones, and he lost a lot of blood,” Hunk looked back up at Keith, “they didn’t bother to tell us what happened, just dropped him off and went on to more important things. Coran says he’ll be fine.”

Hunk couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. He got that Keith wanted to do his own thing, but he deserved better than this.

“I’ll…” for a moment Shiro seemed at a lost as to how exactly to address this, “how much longer does Coran expect him to be in the pod?”

“Another nine hours at least,” Hunk huffed, “Kolivan actually asked if we could get him out sooner because he was supposed to take lead on some upcoming mission.”

“Right,” Shiro sounded distinctly tired and stressed now, “I don’t know how much longer we’re going to need here, but try and stall Keith if we’re not back by the time he gets out. I’d like to talk to him, and I know everyone else will want to see him.”

“I just going to sit on him so he can’t keep running off,” Hunk huffed.

“Sounds like a plan,” Shiro snorted, “try not to worry too much. If Coran says he’ll be alright, he will. Go do something besides stare at him and stress yourself out.”

“Yup,” Cupcake agreed for Hunk, putting his paws up on Hunk’s knees and licking his face.

“You can take care of both off them, Cupcake,” Shiro laughed.

“Yup,” Cupcake’s tail wagged happily, clearly knowing Shiro was paying attention to him, even if he didn’t really understand what he wanted.

“Good boy, Cupcake,” Shiro praised over the line.

Hunk shook his head in amusement, wrapping his arms around his yupper and hiding his face in his ruff.

“I’m making those sweet and sour pickles and some kind of stew,” Hunk’s voice came out muffled, “any request for other things.”

“Those crunchy waffle cookie things if you have the time,” Shiro had eaten nearly the entire batch last time; he would have eaten all of them, but he had lost rock-paper-scissors to Lance.

“Sure,” Hunk straightened, still feeling grumpy, “I’ve got like nine hours.”

“Thanks Hunk,” Shiro said, “I’ll get you our ETA once I know it.”

“Got it,” Hunk straightened, “stay safe.”

“We’ll do our best,” Shiro reassured him and cut the line.

Hunk continued to sullenly scratch the top of Cupcake’s head for a moment more, then pushed himself up and looked back to Keith.

“Don’t go anywhere,” he told him, “you and I are going to have a serious talk when you wake up.”

“Yup,” Cupcake answered for Keith.

“Come on,” Hunk patted his leg and Cupcake trotted happily after him out of the room, “you can have the scraps from the soup.”

* * *

Hunk was waiting with the biggest, softest blanket he could find when Keith woke up. He had totally stolen it from Pidge’s room. Keith stumbled from the pod, marginally panicked as he always was when he got out of one.

“You’re okay,” Hunk wrapped him in the blanket and held him close, “you’re safe and everything is fine.”

“Hunk?” Keith mumbled and slumped into him.

“Yup,” Cupcake leaned into Keith’s side.

“Cupcake,” Keith blinked down at the yupper blearily, “he’s gotten big.”

“Yeah,” Hunk guided Keith down to sit on the steps, keeping an arm around him to steady him, and patted Keith’s knee, “lay down, Cupcake”

Cupcake put his head on Keith’s lap, and Keith made an uncoordinated attempt to free his hand from the blanket. Hunk helped, and as soon as Keith’s hand was free, he set to scratching the top of the yupper’s head. Cupcake gave a hefty sigh of contentment, and his tongue lolled out happily, drawing a weak smile from Keith.

Hunk let him be for a few minutes, content to have Keith’s head on his shoulder while he focused on scratching Cupcake’s head and ears. He could tell the exact moment Keith woke up enough to realize where he was and how he got there, because suddenly he went rigid and his head came up sharply.

“I have to go,” Keith tried to stand, “I’m supposed to lead the mission on T’by’B.”

“Nope,” Hunk tightened his arm, keeping Keith in place, “you need to rest and eat. I’m keeping you for a while.”

“Hunk…” Keith squinted at him, clearly trying to decide how serious he was.

Cupcake whined, unhappy that Keith had stopped petting him, and Keith obediently resumed.

“We’ve missed you,” Hunk gave Keith a gentle squeeze, “at least stay until everyone gets back. They all really want to see you.”

“They do?” Keith frowned, intensely focused on the top of Cupcake’s head.

“Of course,” Hunk pulled Keith closer, tucking his head under his chin.

Keith’s brow furrowed, but he leaned into Hunk unresisting, “Cupcake’s horns are growing in.”

“Yeah, we think another week or two and they’ll be in entirely,” Hunk let him change the subject, “I made those pickles you like and stew.”

“Okay,” Keith relaxed against Hunk tiredly, fingers curling into the thicker fur of Cupcake’s ruff, “that sounds good.”

Hunk let Keith sit for a few more minutes, petting Cupcake while he finished waking up, then ushered him to his room to get changed. It wasn’t that Hunk felt the need to hover, well, maybe he did feel the need to hover, but mostly he was trying to keep Keith too distracted to check in with the Blades, because he knew as soon as he did, he would be told to return, and Hunk wouldn’t be able to keep him there. Unless he really did sit on him. That still seemed like a viable option.

Keith seemed content to simply follow Hunk though, Blaze cradled in the crook of an arm and occasionally reaching out to grip at Cupcake’s ruff. He looked worn out, and Hunk decided if he couldn’t get Keith to stay and get some sleep, he was putting him on the video comm with Lance whether he wanted to or not, because Lance had developed an uncanny ability to get Keith to actual listen to reason while Shiro had been gone.

Blaze perched on the back of Keith’s chair while he ate, grooming his tail and giving Keith suspicious looks every time he shifted, as if expecting him to disappear. Hunk knew the feeling.

“It’s good stew, thanks,” Keith pushed the bowl away after his second helping and yawned sleepily.

“Glad you liked it,” Hunk tapped his feet nervously under the table, and Cupcake rolled on top of them with a content sigh.

Somehow it made Hunk feel better.

“I should really contact Kolivan…” Keith started to push up from his chair, and Blaze jumped into his shoulder in a hurry.

“I’m really worried about you,” Hunk blurted out.

Keith gave him a blank look, clearly confused by the statement, which was a whole different source of frustration.

“I’m fine,” Keith tried to assure him even as he shifted uneasily, “it was just a rough mission, and the pods healed everything, so it’s fine.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Hunk waved his hand vaguely in the air, as if it would help him explain himself somehow, “I mean that’s part of it, but it just seems like… I don’t feel like the Blades are doing a very good job taking care of you.”

“Hunk,” Keith sighed heavily, “they’re an elite infiltration and sabotage force, not babysitters. They don’t have time to coddle anyone, and if I can’t keep up, that’s my problem.”

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work,” Hunk glared at him, “also, sit down. You don’t get to leave until we’re done talking about this. Plus, I made cookies.”

Keith narrowed his eyes at him, glancing subtly at the door as if to gauge his chances of escape.

“If you run I will send Cupcake to fetch you,” Hunk pointed a finger at him, “I send him to fetch Pidge and Lance all the time, and he’s good at it.”

“Yup,” Cupcake’s head popped up next to Hunk at the sound of his name.

Keith eyed the yupper, then let his shoulders drop.

“Fine,” he relented, “but can we at least have cookies while we’re talking, and milk.”

“Yeah,” Hunk stood up with a smile, “I’ll go get them.”

Hunk paused to look back at Keith, sitting dejectedly at the table, and frowned, “you’re not going to make a break for it while I’m gone right?”

“I’m not going anywhere without cookies,” Keith waved him away, “promise.”

Hunk hurried anyway, nearly tripping over Cupcake, who followed at his heels hoping for a treat. He had actually made six different kinds of cookies while Keith was in the pod, and he put some of each on a plate and poured two big glasses of milk.

Keith was where he left him when he came back, head resting on his folded arm on the table and feeding Blaze scraps of meat from his stew bowl. Hunk set the plate and glasses on the table and slide onto the bench next to Keith.

Keith straightened, eyeing the pile of cookies.

“That one is kind of lemon drop-ish,” Hunk pointed.

“Thanks,” Keith picked up the cookie and stared at it for a moment, then turned to Hunk, “I’m really okay.”

“I don’t think your definition of okay is the same as ours,” Hunk bit into one of Shiro’s waffle cookies; he had hidden a stash of them for him in case Lance and Pidge made it back before he did.

“I’m not dead,” Keith took a bite, seeming determined to be grumpy, but the cookie was too good, and he let go a contented sigh.

“That’s a really low bar,” Hunk snorted.

Keith shrugged, looking away, and Hunk tried to figure out how to take all the worries and anxieties bouncing around his head and put them into words that wouldn’t immediately make Keith bolt.

“I totally understand that you want to do your own thing instead of being with us…” Hunk started hesitantly.

“No!” Keith turned to look at him sharply, his voice going high with distress, “that’s not it!”

Blaze perked up, his crest rising, and chittered at Keith worriedly, then ran up to perch on his shoulder, and Hunk gave Keith a puzzled looked.

“It’s not that I wanted to leave you… the team… everyone…” Keith ran a frustrated hand over his face as he stumbled over his word, “I just want to be useful.”

“Keith, you’re useful to us,” Hunk put a gentle hand on Keith’s shoulder, “and that doesn’t even matter, not really. You’re important to us, and we just want you safe and happy.”

Keith looked away again, hunching his shoulders, and Cupcake popped up between his knees, looking up at him with big, concerned eyes. Keith laughed, his throat sounding suspiciously tight, and scratched his floppy ears.

“I’m good at this, Hunk,” Keith said softly, “I can make a difference this way, and maybe even help finally stop this war.”

“Even if it kills you?” Hunk frowned at the top of Keith’s head.

Keith just shrugged, intensely focused on scratching Cupcake’s cheeks.

“Let’s try a thought experiment,” Hunk patted Keith’s shoulder, then reached for a cookie, something very like oatmeal with dried fruit mixed in, “what if it was Shiro?”

“Shiro?” Keith looked up at him in confusion.

“Yeah,” Hunk nodded, “what if it was Shiro throwing himself into missions, and running himself into the ground, and telling us it didn’t matter if he was getting hurt or if he died, because the mission is more important than any individual?”

Keith shifted uneasily, and Blaze nuzzled against his cheek, chattering worriedly. He scooped the snarvader up and tucked it in the crook of his arm, stroking his head. Cupcake whined, although it sounded more like a long drawn out agreement with the terribleness of the entire situation.

“That’s different,” Keith smoothed down Blaze’s crest.

“Why is it different?” Hunk kept his tone gentle.

He didn’t want to fight with Keith; he just wanted him to understand why they were so worried, and even more important, that they cared about him.

“Because he’s Shiro,” Keith frowned, knowing that wasn’t enough of an answer, “because he’s important. He’s a paladin.”

“So are you,” Hunk huffed at him, “and if he wasn’t a paladin, would that make it okay?”

Shiro probably wasn’t the best example because he was the Black Paladin, but Shiro always got a stronger reaction from Keith then the rest of them, and that was really what Hunk wanted. Also Shiro already had a tendency to put the mission and team before himself, so he set a bad example in this too. Not as bad as Keith though.

“No,” Keith denied quickly, “he’s... “ he shrunk into himself, not quite able to get the words out.

“He’s important to you because you care about him,” Hunk suggested softly, rubbing Keith’s shoulder.

“Of course I do,” Keith let Blaze climb up him to nuzzle his cheek.

“So if it was Shiro who kept leaving us, and putting himself in danger for the sake of the mission, and seeming not to care if he died because of it, would you be okay with that?” Hunk prompted.

“It’s different,” Keith evaded, although his answer was clearly no.

“It’s really not, not for us,” Hunk slid his arm around Keith’s shoulders and pulled him against his side.

“I don’t know what else to do,” Keith rested his head on Hunk’s shoulder.

“Maybe you could take a break and spend some time here with us,” Hunk reached for another lemon-ish cookie, handing it to Keith, “and after you’ve gotten some rest, we can figure it out together.”

“I… I have to talk to Kolivan,” Keith took the cookie, staring at it as if unsure if he wanted to eat it.

“You might talk to Coran first,” Hunk leaned his cheek against Keith’s hair, “he mentioned a couple things on your scans he wanted to talk to you about.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed, “are you suggesting I have our space uncle write me a letter excusing my absence?”

Hunk laughed and squeezed Keith closer, “yeah, pretty much.”

Keith snorted and ate his cookie, breaking off a piece of it to give to Cupcake, who was still sitting between his legs, head resting on his knee. Hunk tried really hard not to feed the yupper from the table, but he was willing to make an exception this time.

The sound of running feet came from the hall outside, ridiculously loud even when taking into account that they were wearing armor. It was even funnier when Pidge was the one who burst through the door. For someone so tiny, she could sound like a stampede of elephants when she wasn’t trying to be stealthy.

“Keith!” she yelled, and Keith didn’t even have time to get a greeting out before she had slid onto the bench and wrapped her arms around him.

Keith shoved the last of his cookie in his mouth, then hugged her back. She must have come straight from the hanger. She was still in her armor, and her hair was sticking up in every direction and a bit grimy from her helmet. Keith didn’t seem to care.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Pidge mumbled into his shoulder.

“Thanks,” Keith pressed his face into Pidge’s hair.

Cupcake, excited by there being more people who were actually moving around, jumped to his feet, almost hitting his head on the underside of the table. He was going to be too big to fit under it soon.

When Lance appeared in the door, stripping off his top armor as he walked and talking to someone on his ear piece, Cupcake raced over to him, jumping up on him with a happy greeting. Lance had to take a step back, to compensate for his weight, and he lifted his paws off of him, giving him the command for down, then scratching his ears a bit absently when he obeyed, most of his attention still on whoever was talking to him.

“We can switch if you need me to,” Lance told them, then paused to listen for the answer, absently scratching the top of Cupcake’s head, “alright, if you’re sure. I’ll take care of this end of things. See you soon.”

He pulled his ear piece out and tossed it onto the table along with the chest piece of his armor, then slide onto the bench next to Pidge, squishing her so he could hug Keith too.

“I’m glad you’re out of the pod, mullet,” he said.

“Yeah, me too,” Keith leaned into them, at least in part to squish Pidge more.

“You stink,” Pidge squirmed and elbowed Lance, trying to get him to loosen his hold.

“You smell like a gym socks someone tossed in a vat of grease,” Lance squeezed tighter, earning a grunt from both Keith and Pidge, “you have no room to complain.”

“You two stop squishing Keith,” Hunk reached over and pushed the side of Lance’s head, “he just got out of the pod.”

“And we know how delicate he is,” Lance let go and reached for a cookie, but Pidge stayed tucked against Keith’s side, “seriously though, how are you doing?”

Keith took a breath and let it out, before answering honestly, “better.”

“Good,” Lance reached around everyone to dunk his cookie in Hunk’s milk glass, dripping across the table as he brought it back to himself, “that was Shiro. They should be back in about 2 vargras. You should stick around until then. He and Allura both really want to see you.”

“Okay,” Keith beat Pidge to a waffle cookie and smirked at her, “I’ll let Kolivan know I’m going to be here for a little longer.”

Hunk smiled contently, reaching down to scratch Cupcake’s head when he rested it on his knee. This was good, and if they could stay this way for a while, Hunk would be very happy.

* * *

“…maybe if I just up the power output a little more,” Hunk sat up slightly, accommodating Cupcake as he shifted and settled down again, then leaning back against his side.

“Yup,” Cupcake sighed contently, his deep breath moving Hunk up and down.

“It will either blow up or fix it,” Hunk frowned at the simulation on his tablet, then grinned, “let’s find out.”

He upped the power output and ran the simulation. The whole thing exploded rather spectacularly.

“Good thing I didn’t do that in real life,” Hunk sighed, “I mean it’s not like anyone has ever modified our stuff and then blown it up. Oh wait, Pidge.”

“Yup,” Cupcake flipped his tail across Hunk’s lap, flicking him in the face with the tuff at the end.

His ruff seemed to have finished growing in, although statistics seemed to indicate he still had some growing to do. He was more than big enough to make a comfortable pillow for Hunk though, and he seemed to enjoy being laid on, which was good, because Hunk really liked laying on him.

“Hunk! Look at what Lance and I made!”

Pidge slid into the room holding what looked like a very large vest above her head.

“Is that dog armor?” Hunk eyed it suspiciously, “I said no armor.”

Cupcake lifted his head curiously.

“It’s not armor,” Pidge waggled it at him, “it’s a fully integrated yupper protection and location unit.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow at her.

“It’s armor with a tracker,” Lance supplied, walking in behind her much more calmly, “purely defensive, and look how cute it is.”

Hunk sighed and held his hand out for it. There was soft material covering what had to be some kind of flexible armor plating. The material had happy little caricature of all their pets and lions on an orange background. That was a Lance idea, for sure, but it looked like Keith had drawn them. Keith had gone back to the Blades after close to a week with them, but he was doing a better job staying in touch now, which Hunk supposed was progress. 

“What alloy did you end up using?” Hunk pushed Cupcake’s head away with one hand and hefted it in the other, pleased with the weight of it.

“Coran and I worked out how to dragon scale thinner sheets of the same stuff our armor is made out of,” Pidge bounced on her toes, “put it on him. I want to show you all the cool stuff we put into it.”

Hunk hesitated. He understood the logic behind having armor for Cupcake, but he still didn’t want it. Cupcake was supposed to be a dog, and only worry about dog things, like food and belly scratches and chewing on other people’s stuff. Hunk wanted to make sure that Cupcake always got to be just a dog, that he could always protect him, even when he couldn’t always protect everyone.

“Come on, Hunk,” Lance waved his phone at him, “I promised Keith pictures.”

Hunk snorted and pushed himself up, holding the vest out to Cupcake. He sniffed at it curiously, then gave it a sloppy lick. Upon finding that it didn’t taste like food, he lost interest and started scratching his ruff with his hind paw.

“Gross,” Pidge complained.

“If you’re going to put something on a dog, you should really make sure it’s drool proof,” Hunk got Cupcake to sit up straight and looped the vest around her shoulders.

“Of course it is,” Pidge huffed, “it’s still gross.”

Hunk had to admit, the vest was well designed. He didn’t have to coax Cupcake into putting her paws through any sleeve holes, and it was heavy, but definitely not too heavy for the yupper. The clasps across the front were stylized to look like the V logo for Voltron, and they closed easily.

Cupcake turned in circles for a few minutes trying to see what Hunk had put on him, then scratched at it with his hind paw. Whatever material Pidge had covered it with, it held up to the scratching, which was admittedly impressive.

He then shook himself as hard as he could, and when that failed to dislodge it as well, he huffed and laid down, grumbling a stream of vague agreements.

“Well,” Lance lowered the phone he had been filming on, “he didn’t tear it off, so that probably means he doesn’t hate it.”

“You guys did a good job on the design,” Hunk scratched the yupper’s ears, and he immediately perked up.

“Look at this though,” Pidge snatched Lance’s phone away from him, “we’ll load this on your comm too, but you can use this program to find him.”

She opened a map of the castle, and a happy yupper face popped up in the commons room they were standing it.

“We haven’t tested the maximum range yet, but Coran and I think it should be at least 100 mile radius,” her eyes took on the glazed look of adoration they got when she talked about Altean tech, “the signal relay system is so elegant…”

“What happens if there’s no map of the place he is?” Hunk asked before she could wander too far down the rabbit hole of her love of Altean tech.

“It will point to him like a compass,” Lance flopped down against Cupcake’s side, “and look at this!”

He reached under Cupcake’s chin, hitting the top V clasp, and the whole vest began to glow a soft Altean blue and the Vs down the front lit up a warm bright orange.

“In case you need to find him in the dark,” Lance grinned, “or you want a nightlight.”

“Yeah,” Hunk nodded slowly and flopped down onto Cupcake next to Lance, “that’s pretty cool. Have you guys done impact testing on it yet?”

“Of course,” Pidge wedged herself between Hunk and Lance and snatched up Hunk’s tablet, tapping away on it to bring up the design, “we got the rating almost as high as our armor, although I still think we can get it higher.”

Hunk took the tablet back from her, looking over the specs.

“We should make one for Grace, too,” he said absently.

“It’s too heavy still for her,” Lance shook his head.

“Yeah,” Pidge nodded, “we need your help cutting some weight, then we can surprise Shiro.”

“We want to make hers twinkle, like stars and galaxies,” Lance leaned into Pidge, squishing her a bit between he and Hunk so he could see the tablet too.

“Shiro would like that,” Hunk agreed, already starting to make changes to the design.

“What if we made a tiny one for Blaze?” Lance asked excitedly, “it would be so cute!”

“I don’t think Blaze needs armor,” Pidge said thoughtfully, “but we could make it like a harness. I wonder if we can leash train Blaze while Keith is gone…”

Hunk let their voices fade into the background, content to have them close by while he tackled this new project. Cupcake let out a long, content sigh, clearly in agreement with all of them.

* * *

Shiro had disappeared in a pile of dogs, and Hunk wasn’t sure they were going to find him again. If he pushed himself up high enough to see over Cupcake’s back, he could see Shiro’s boots sticking out from under Grace, and his snore was probably loud enough to hear all the way down the hall.

Hunk was satisfied with this arrangement. Cupcake seemed to be as well. He was more than happy to curl around Shiro and take turns with Grace grooming his hair. He was going to have one heck of a cowlick when he woke up.

“I win!” Pidge almost smacked Hunk in the face when she raised her hands in victory.

Cupcake smacked her in the face with his tail, and she sputtered.

“Avenge me, Cupcake,” Lance cried dramatically, throwing his arms above his head.

The fact that Lance was looking at the screen upside down had not helped his score at all. He was laying on his back with his feet resting up on Cupcake between Hunk and Pidge, and he used his heels to give the yupper scratches.

Cupcake let out a long, lazy agreement for eventual revenge, probably in the form of licks or affectionate head butts.

“Give me,” Hunk made a grabbing motion for the controller, “I’ll avenge you.”

“Good luck with that,” Pidge pushed her glasses up and hunched over her controls, “I’ll defend my crown to the death. To the death! Do you hear me!”

There was a snort from the other side of the yupper, and Shiro sat up groggily, blinking at them from over Cupcake’s back.

“Who’s dying?” he asked in confusion.

His hair was sticking up in every direction, and he looked ready to topple back over at any moment.

“No one,” Hunk assured, “we’re still just playing video games.”

“Okay,” Shiro blinked down at Grace when she tugged on his sleeve, wanting him to lay back down, “that’s good.”

Lance snapped a picture while he was focused on his dog.

“I’m just going to…” Shiro trailed off, clearly not sure what he was going to do, but Grace continued to tug, and Cupcake nuzzled against his face, “I’m just going to pet the dogs.”

“Good plan, Shiro” Lance gave him a thumbs up, “one of your best.”

Pidge snickered and buried her face in Cupcake’s side, and Hunk reset the game while she tried to get her giggles under control. It only took a minute or two for Shiro to go back to snoring.

“Good boy, baby cakes,” Hunk reached over to scratch Cupcake’s ears, “you’re the best little murder puppy cupcake baby in the whole universe.”

Pidge rolled her eyes at the baby talk, and Lance grinned up at him.

Being a dog owner, Hunk decided, was about the best thing ever.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Pidge getting her caterpillars and Lance getting his fish and tortoise are stories that should have come before this one, but hopefully I'll get back to those eventually.
> 
> Also, Grace loves all the Shiros!


End file.
